Evaluation of Jointness Between Agriculture and Rural Development

摘要

The evaluation of jointness shows that it would be possible to de-link that part of agriculture's contribution to rural development which is not coupled to land-use. Compared to the costs of alternative employment opportunities, it can be seen that agricultural support - provided that it would be possible to create jobs outside of agriculture - is not efficient in many regions in the mountain area. The costs of creating alternative employment opportunities are likely to be lower. On the other hand, it must be stated that under the current basic conditions it is hardly possible to create jobs in the manufacturing and industry sector and in the services sectors in those regions which today still have an agrarian character. Therefore, an alternative source can only be achieved with high payments since the cost of creating and maintaining jobs outside of agriculture exceeds the added value which can be achieved. Employment and added value linked to agricultural production is an efficient way of ensuring rural development (strong degree of jointness) in regions where the creation of jobs outside of agriculture is impossible. In (larger) regions with a diversified economy or regions with a tourist industry, however, it should be possible to create alternative jobs outside of agriculture at a lower cost than within agriculture (weak degree of jointness). It follows that support for employment in agriculture over and above the target of overall cultivation is not efficient in regions of this kind.